Parental Advice
by imdoingthiswhy
Summary: SPOILERS for Watershed. Title changed from "Mother Knows Best" when I realized Martha wasn't the only parent trying to guide a child. Martha speaks her mind to her son, and Jim similarly speaks to his daughter. Kate hears Castle's new perspective after his question at the swings and they actually talk. It's definitely finished now.
1. Chapter 1

Mother Knows Best

Kate sat in the swing in shock, looking down at Richard Castle and the ring in his hand; and the tears she was fighting as he talked about deserving more finally fell. When she regained her senses, she put her hands on his shoulders and leaned forward to rest her forehead against his.

Her voice caught as she said, "You looked so angry…so serious. I thought you were telling me you didn't want me anymore, that you deserved better…and I can't say you'd be wrong."

"More terrified than angry. I love you, Kate. I don't know how to not want you." He slipped the ring on the first joint of his little finger and stood, pulling her up with him and holding her. "Do I get an answer?" he asked, wiping her tears with his thumbs and touching their foreheads together again as he slid his arms around her waist.

She rested her hands on his chest. "Rick…"

When there was a pause rather than an answer, he didn't let her go, simply lifted his head and looked across her shoulder at the sky. Without even glancing back at her, he responded, "Maybe I asked the wrong question. You've said you love me. Maybe I should have asked if you love me enough to marry me."

"I do love you that much."

"But I still don't hear a yes. Are you trying to decide how to say no?"

"I'm not saying no. I do want to marry you…"

"But not now? I know this came out of left field, but I meant what I said. Whatever you decide, I'll be there. It won't be easy, but we're two intelligent people. We can figure it out." He finally looked at her again. "Did you get the job?"

"I got the offer about an hour ago. I had to interrogate our suspect before I could leave."

"I knew you'd get it. And you accepted?"

"I asked for a day to decide. I have until closing time tomorrow to let him know."

"You deserve that position. They'd be lucky to have you."

"Maybe." She looked down, thoughts obviously in motion. "This job is close to the top for my career, and what I'd do…it affects so many more lives."

"For me, it would be like the difference between writing a book that gets a little attention and writing a best-seller?"

"Something like that."

"Derrick Storm and Nikki Heat aren't likely to win me any Pulitzers, so I'm probably already at the top of my career. I shouldn't expect you to give up wanting the same thing for yourself. I just need to know we'll work it out together, that I'll be included in the decisions."

"I love you so much, Castle. I don't know how you put up with me," she answered, fiddling with the buttons of his shirt as they both began to relax a little bit.

"Well, I present some challenges of my own, and you've put up with that." He paused for a moment and kissed her forehead, nuzzling her hair.

"You're still angry, aren't you?" she asked. "You should be."

"I've worked through angry. More disappointed now. When I was bemoaning all this, my mother found an opening and gave me a stiff talking to. She has a way of presenting me with enough facts to make me think and then leaving me to stew over it on my own…and an annoying way of being right most of the time. I did a lot of thinking."

"Does she hate me? Does Alexis know? She's definitely going to hate me. What did Martha say?"

"Alexis doesn't know, and Mother doesn't hate you. She pointed out that you're bright and ambitious and _should_ be interviewing for this job. And I finally realized that, long before I could have her, I fell in love with that exact same bright, ambitious, strong, capable woman, who doesn't let people in. I waited her out and got past way more walls than I ever expected. We've had a year together to be closer, and I don't want to lose her now just because I can still see the woman I fell in love with. We've come a long way, and I don't want to miss our chance for a life together. But I don't want to hold you back. I can't say the changes don't worry me, but I'm willing to try if you are."

"I'm willing to try. I don't want to lose you, either."

"If you decide to take the job, I'll do what I can to help. Moving isn't a quick, easy job. You'll need a place to live...a place I'm counting on inhabiting with you some of the time. We'll need utilities connected, furniture... I can do the groundwork for us for that sort of thing. You'll have enough on your plate."

Kate leaned her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him. "I really don't deserve you, Rick. But I'm so glad you haven't given up on me."

"If you love me enough to want to marry me, keep the ring. Wear it on your right hand, hang it on the chain with your mother's, put it in the box and keep it in a drawer until you're ready…just keep it. Will you try it on, though…see how it looks…just for now?" He hopefully handed her the ring.

Kate quietly put the ring on her finger. "It's beautiful," she said softly. "Can we give this another day, too…have time to talk? These are big decisions for both of us."

"Including the ring?" He showed a bare hint of his teasing smile. "It looks good on you."

"Including whatever you want." He got a tiny smile in return.

"I could mention that we can still talk…still make plans while we're betrothed."

"Betrothed, huh?"

"You'd be betrothed to a writer. Deal with it." The general atmosphere was still serious, but their smiles were getting easier. "Where would you like to talk?"

"Take me home?" It was almost a plea. "And help me make a list of pros and cons for all these changes? The breakfast bar in the kitchen…with lots of coffee. That sounds like a good place."

"And we're working this out together?" he asked.

"About time, don't you think?"

"Together, however we can make it work. That's what I want, Kate."

"Me, too." She lifted her head from his shoulder to look at him directly and placed a quick kiss to his lips. "Remind me to thank your mother."

He kissed her back and then really smiled for the first time since he arrived at the swings. Guiding her back toward her car with his arm around her waist, he said, "Let's go home."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The couple was silent for about half the trip as Kate drove them toward the loft, although Castle's hand rested warmly on her thigh…a frequent enough occurrence for them to see it as a habit now. He still looked straight ahead, though, saying nothing and looking staid, somber.

Kate was the one who eventually broke the silence. She slipped her hand over his and asked, "You aren't really over being angry, are you?"

He finally glanced at her and then looked forward again. "I thought I was, but I guess…no, maybe not. What you did…what you said…it…"

"Maybe we should talk about that before we tackle anything else?"

He squeezed her thigh gently to reassure her and answered, "Maybe we should."

She drove for another minute or so in silence and then asked with a hint of disbelief, "But you still love me enough to want to marry me?"

"Yes." He looked back at her again. "But, Beckett, we need to come to some understandings first. It's time to do that if we're going to make this work…and I want that more than anything."

"Me, too." She squeezed his hand before putting her own back on the steering wheel, and they rode a little longer in relatively comfortable quiet, each nervous about the impending conversation but hopeful that it would clear a path to something better.

"Traffic hasn't been bad. We're almost there." Castle rubbed his hand on her thigh gently before removing it when she pulled up and stopped in front of his building. As they met at the back of the car, he put an arm around her waist again.

"I'll make the coffee, and you'll find pen and paper?" she asked.

He nodded in agreement.

They greeted the doorman as they entered the building and went to the loft with no further conversation. Leaving their jackets on the back of the sofa, they each went to their designated tasks, Kate to start the coffee and Castle to get pen and paper for the pros and cons of their decision making.

Castle returned with pens, pencils, and printer paper and placed them on the breakfast bar as Kate took mugs from the cabinet. When she set them on the counter, he slipped his arms around her waist and asked, "Can we start with this?"

Kate slid her arms up and around his neck and leaned against him in relief. "I've missed this," she answered. "When you stood up from the swings, I thought you were leaving and we'd never have this again...and…"

He kissed her gently, reassuring her that she had been mistaken and then pulled her close, luxuriating in the comforting feeling of her fingers moving through the hair at the back of his head.

"Hold me closer," she insisted, and he held her tighter, kissing the top of her head.

After a long moment, he moved away from her. "Looks like the coffee is ready. Sit down; I'll get it."

"No. You sit down. That was my job," she told him and turned to fill the mugs. When the coffee was prepared just the way they liked it, she took the mugs, placed them on the counter, and sat down next to Castle. They sat so they were facing, each with an arm resting on the counter, their positions mirror images of each other, and she slid her hand over his as she spoke. "You first. Talk to me," she said. "I know I've hurt you again and that saying I'm sorry isn't nearly enough. Say what you need to say, vent, whatever you need to do. I'm listening, and I know I deserve it."

He looked down at their hands and allowed the contact to continue as he answered her, his residual anger and frustration with her taking him right to the point. "The first thing you need to know is that I love you enough not to give up on us yet. The second thing is that, in spite of the last couple of weeks, I know how hard you've tried to be open with me, and that means more than I can tell you…that's what makes me willing to keep trying. I know that hasn't been easy for you."

"And the rest?"

"Most of this year I thought I could see that you loved me, even though I hadn't heard it. Then you said it…under less than ideal circumstances, but you said it; and when we got out of that building alive, I thought we were on the right path." He stopped for a moment, moved his hand from hers, and looked angrier that he had up until then. He turned slightly away from her, and his words picked up in speed and intensity as he continued. "Then you allowed Vaughn close enough to kiss you…you did let him know you didn't intend to reciprocate, but you still allowed him to get that close. After that, you flew to D.C. for a job interview that you never mentioned to me…knowing it would cause a huge change in our relationship, and then you told me it wasn't about me, asked me not to make it about us. We were back to it being _your_ life when you should have been thinking it was _ours_. But the worst of it was that both times you lied to me…_again_. Those things hurt, Kate. They hurt like hell.

"I _am_ sorry. The kiss…I just wanted to talk to you about it without an audience. I didn't want to put it out there in front of Ryan…or anybody else. The job interview…that was wrong of me. I should have talked to you. I've told you how bad I am at relationships, and I seem to keep proving it."

"Until the last few weeks, I thought you were really good at this relationship. Other than my mother and my daughter, you're the most important person in my life…and, even there, you hold equal importance with them. What you did this week…what you said…it made me feel like I'm only a peripheral importance to you…that you don't intend to think in terms of _us_ if something better comes along. I've already been through that twice…three times if we count Kyra; so yeah, I'm, still angry…and hurt, and confused, and wondering how much I've imagined and how much is real."

He stopped and ran a hand throught his hair, seeming to be calming himself again, and took a deep breath before he continued. "Then Mother made me face myself, pointed out that at the first sign of trouble I'd run away. I remembered how much you trusted me through Tyson and Meredith…and how you took care of me when I was hurt, how much you put into that party, how you looked at me all these months, how you touched me…and I don't think it was my imagination that those things happened because you care. So I did some soul-searching and realized we both need to grow up and be honest and decide where we go from here."

"Rick, I don't blame you for being angry. I knew what I'd done was wrong, and I wanted to talk it out, but you walked away. That worries me. The times we've had a huge argument or a big misunderstanding, one of us has decided it was over and walked away. That's how it felt when you left…like we might be finished. I was there with a job possibility most people in law enforcement would be beyond honored to even be considered for and a partner I love who couldn't stand to be near me right then…nobody to help me think it through." She took a breath and looked away, taking a moment to gather her thoughts. "Then the actual offer came. I talked to my dad before I met you at the park, and he didn't hold back on his advice any more than Martha did. I told him about the job, that I felt like I was at a crossroads and had to choose between two futures; and he asked me why I thought I had to choose."

"What was your answer?"

Looking back up, she answered, "The short version is that I didn't know what we had, or whether it was real. I guess I threw both of us into a position of having to think it through in a moment of crisis. I've never been happier than the time we've been together. We got past a few pretty rough places and still made it through a whole year; but in all that time, we never once talked about the future. The one time I worked up my nerve and tried to ask, I didn't get an answer. I don't know. Maybe I was too vague, but it made me wonder if you wanted any more than what we already had. When the future of my career came up more than once in the past few weeks, it added some pressure to the other question. Vaughn intentionally cultivated the seeds of doubt, talked about knowing people who could help advance my career, then the task force interview offer came on the heels of it..."

"But why not tell me about the offer? That's what I don't understand." The lingering emotional pain at her choice was obvious in his voice. "Don't you trust me enough yet to tell me when you want something this important? Were you getting tired of me? Were you having doubts about a future with me? If you had told me before the interview, my reaction would have been completely different. I would have thought it through with you…backed you up."

Kate looked down at her hands where they were clasped nervously on the counter. "I convinced myself that I didn't need to upset you before I went for the interview…saw what the job would demand, and it would be demanding. In retrospect it was an asinine thing to do, but it seemed to make sense at the time." She dropped her face to her hands for a moment then ran her hands through her hair as she exhaled a sharp breath. "And, no, I'm not tired of you. I feel like you're part of me now." She stopped and combed her hands through her hair again. "Dad reminded me that when I get scared, I hide in my work."

"He's right."

"I know."

"Is that what this is…a way to hide in your work?"

"He pointed out that I haven't had a relationship that lasted this long, that I've usually ended them by now. He said to be sure that whatever decision I make is because of what I want, not because I'm afraid."

"_Are_ you afraid?"

"I was…yeah, I guess I am."

"Mother asked me if I was holding back on asking you for more because somewhere deep down I didn't believe it would ever work. I've decided I don't believe that."

"Neither do I…even though I don't always make it easy."

"And you do want to marry me, but you're not ready to say yes now?"

"If you can forgive my stupidity and give me another chance…yes."

Castle finally turned back to look in Kate's direction again. "I did fall in love with you knowing it wouldn't be easy, and I'm not innocent of all blame, either. I never tried to ask about our future at all. I created the opening for you to have doubts about what I wanted, and I've done some stupid things, too…things you've forgiven."

"But since Smith, you haven't lied to me or hidden anything important."

He reached to take her hand again, running his thumb gently over the back of it. "My first marriage was entirely for Alexis. I wasn't going to have my child grow up without a father. Meredith was along as part of the package. I thought we could make it work for our child. The second marriage was as much for Alexis as for me. I was lonely, and she was growing up, needed a woman's viewpoint…a mother figure; and Gina and I got along well, enjoyed each other then. You need to know that this one…ours…is the only marriage I've wanted entirely for myself. My only demand is that you don't lie to me again, and that you don't leave me out of things that will affect both of us. I can't keep accepting that and hold on to any of my self-respect."

"What if I turn into an idiot temporarily and disappoint you again?" she asked, looking back down.

"Then you come to me and tell me instead of hiding it and letting me find out on my own, and we'll probably have this ugly argument again; but some honesty should get us through." He leaned to look at her downcast face. "We're both going to do stupid things, annoy each other, argue, be jealous, feel our insecurities again; we always have. We wouldn't be a normal couple if that didn't happen; but if we can be happy most of the time, isn't it worth the effort?"

"Yeah, it is." She looked up at him again, and he leaned closer to press a soft kiss to her lips.

"So you'll keep the ring and tell me when you're ready?" he asked, reaching to play with the ring that was still on her finger.

"No. I want you to keep the ring…and surprise me again when it feels more like love than desperation. I don't care when that is, but we should remember the beginning of our future as something joyful. This proposal grew out of fear of losing each other…the result of my total lack of good sense. You deserve a better memory than that."

"You do, too. The proposal wasn't intended to try to make you stay. It was to let you know I'm in this a hundred per cent. I didn't want you to have any doubts." He looked into her eyes as he kissed her ring finger.

"I know that. You're an amazing man, Richard Castle." She stood, removed the ring and handed it to him, and he put it in his pocket.

"Another surprise, then…another time." He pulled her into the vee of his legs, wrapping his arms around her middle. "You don't have to choose…just decide. I'm your partner. I've got your back. I love you, Beckett," he said, finally gifting her with a subdued smile."

"I love you, too," she answered. "Thank you…for loving me in spite of myself," she added with a small smile before she leaned in to kiss him.

The kiss eased them into the feeling of being together again, and when it broke, Castle answered, "Then I guess we'd better start our lists and decide how to make it work."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Kate sat back down, and both of them finally got around to their coffee, sipping it as they discussed how to go about their pros and cons list.

"Why don't we start with two lists about the job…yours and mine. Then we can compare them," Castle suggested.

"Okay. Pass me some paper and a pencil."

Castle folded two sheets of paper lengthwise and handed one to Kate, putting pens and pencils between them where they were easy to reach, and they worked on their lists separately. When they both seemed to have run out of thoughts, Kate asked, "Do we trade lists or read them to each other?" She smiled one of her smirky little smiles and said, "This kind of feels like learning a new board game."

Castle chuckled and agreed. "Let's read them out. Why don't you go first? Start with the 'pros'."

Kate's list of pros was:

-It made us face what we want together.

-It's a phenomenal opportunity.

-It's a major career move.

-I think I'd like the new challenge.

-What I'd be doing would make a difference to people all over the country.

-It's close to Bracken, and new information might cross my path.

Castle picked up his list and read it.

-It's a prestigious job – a good, upward move for you.

-Your abilities are up there with the best, and you'd easily prove yourself.

-Things like the drone incident can affect history, and you'd be a part of it.

-The job offer made us talk about our future.

-We'd be apart, but the getting back together sex should be great.

"Really? That's where you went?" She tried to sound stern, but the smile she couldn't hold in destroyed the effect easily.

"I'm a guy. I can't help it," he said with an answering smile. "Tell me with a straight face that I'm wrong."

"Not sure I can do that…with a straight face." She drew herself back to the real discussion. "How about the cons? You want to start that one?"

"Okay," he agreed.

-I'd miss you.

-The relationship would be harder.

-Our family will miss you.

-We can't sleep in the same bed every night.

-There won't be anybody to sooth away our nightmares – or your occasional panic attack.

-This is your home. D.C. is strangers.

-We can't work together anymore.

-We'll be separated. You'll have to travel a lot.

-You hate politics getting in the way of investigations. You could be asked to be a part of that.

-The job is prestigious, but low profile. My job is full of publicity. Our being together is bound to come out with the next book, if not before, especially if

you're wearing a ring. That could be a problem.

-You may come across new information on Bracken. Who's going to keep you away from the rabbit hole?

"Your turn, he said when he finished.

"Okay…cons."

-I'll miss you.

-We won't wake up together in the mornings.

-I'll be leaving everybody important to me here.

-We won't be working together.

-It's harder to make things work between us when I could be travelling anywhere on short notice.

-We can't save each other from the bad dreams.

-I'll miss you.

"You already said that last one," Castle pointed out.

"It's big."

He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Yeah, it is."

"You had a couple of good points I didn't include. It looks like we agree on the pros and cons…except where we put Bracken.

"He's a big concern. Maybe we should consider some 'what-if's' as well as pros and cons."

"Like what?"

"What if he had something to do with the offer?"

"I didn't get that feeling from the people who encouraged me. Bracken shouldn't want me that close, but he _is_ devious."

"What if he sees it as a way to isolate you from the rest of your team…from anybody who knows enough to support you…anybody you know you can trust?"

"Or find a way to discredit me. At the level of that job, that would destroy my career."

"Or worse, have you where no one knows your connection with him or that you need to be protected from him. He could much more easily arrange for an 'accident' to get you out of his way. Even if he didn't plan the offer, he could see it as an opportunity. And he knows a recommendation from someone in his position would certainly count in your favor." He paused to let that thought steep in her mind for a moment. "I'm not trying to scare you away from the job, and I'm definitely not suggesting that you got this offer for any reason other than being the extraordinary detective that you are; but given Bracken's history, you know it isn't an unreasonable consideration.

"No, it isn't." She looked concerned and thoughtful and ran both hands through her hair at her temples again as if her head might explode if she didn't hold on to it. "It could also be a warped attempt at a reward for saving his life. Saving his life is the only connection to me that the task force knows about. That's how it would look to them."

"Unless one of them is on his payroll, which wouldn't be so far-fetched, either."

"No, it wouldn't. So, even if some new evidence crossed my path, I couldn't take advantage of it because I don't know who I can trust."

"Right."

"Or it might have nothing to do with him at all, and all this speculation is for nothing."

"And that's true, too, but if we're going for honesty here; it still makes me nervous."

"We're going for honesty, Castle. That's why I needed my partner to talk to. Say what you think. That's what I need to hear…whether I like hearing it or not. I need to make a decision with my eyes wide open to all the pluses and minuses."

"That's about all I've got about the job. You want to talk about commitments…marriage?"

"Pros and cons again?"

"Yeah." He folded two more sheets of paper and handed one to Kate, and they started writing.

When they both stopped writing, Kate looked at Castle. "You start this time."

Castle looked at the page and read his list. This one had been easy.

-I love you, and I want to spend my life with you.

-It would be a commitment to take each other with all our flaws and learn to make it better as we go.

-We'd be free to be together anywhere, anytime…it would be expected…no more hiding.

"Your turn," he told her.

"Mine isn't very long, either."

-I love you.

-I can't imagine my life without you in it anymore.

-I want to stand in front of our family and friends and let them know I intend to spend my life with you.

-I want everybody to know you're mine so I have a legitimate reason to shoot anybody woman who tries to take you away from me.

Castle gave in to a burst of laughter at her last entry. "Your employers, present or future, would probably frown on the shooting thing. As for the sentiment, though, jealous Beckett is kind of sexy." He pulled himself together and asked, "I think we've covered most of the cons since we got to the loft. What's on your list.?"

"Just that you'd be married to another crazy woman," she answered.

"I can't think of any cons, either." He stopped for a beat for effect and gave her one of his signature smirks. "Oh, yeah, except that I'd be married to another crazy woman."

She laughed and shoved his shoulder in retaliation. "We know it won't be easy if I take the job in D.C," she answered more seriously. We should look at solutions, too."

"You'd be marrying a man with a lot of money. Having a third house won't be a problem."

"I could probably arrange to be here on most weekends…and special occasions, and I'll have vacation time."

"I have to be away sometimes, too…for book tours and meetings. Paula has more contacts than any human being should be allowed to have. If you know you'll be somewhere for a couple of days or more, she could probably book something for me in the same place. She's spent a lot of time this year griping about the fact that I don't want to do publicity anymore. She'd love to shove me out of town more often."

"There's no way to know how much time I'd have to spend on the job, though."

"Even with your schedule, I could fly out to meet you now and then just because we want to have dinner together and sleep in the same bed…or _not_ sleep in the same bed." He followed with the eyebrow wiggle she would fully expect after that comment.

"That would be a plus," she answered with a smile.

"So, if you take the job, we'd have three homes to choose from for time together, lots of frequent flier miles…"

"And we should never let our phone batteries die. Those things would be like lifelines."

"If you're working in D.C., you won't need your apartment in New York. You won't need it if we're married, either, unless you want to keep it as an investment."

"What if I decide to stay here...not take the new job?"

"It would be easier. We'd wake up together in the mornings. None of our families would be broken up...home or work."

"How would you want to handle that?"

"You start moving the rest of your things in here whenever you want to, I ask you again, we plan a wedding and start our always. If Gates can handle that, I'll still be your partner at work, too. If not, you and the boys can still bounce theory around with me if you need to. Maybe she'd still be okay with my consulting there."

"There's one big thing we haven't talked about…and we need to," she said hesitantly.

"Children?"

"Yeah."

"I wasn't sure we were ready for that."

"It's part of our future. We should. You said something about wanting the option. Does that mean you'd want to start over…be a dad again?"

"I love kids, but I don't want you to feel like I'm pushing you for that. No matter how much you love them and enjoy them, being a parent can be stressful. I wouldn't mind being a dad again. Do you want to have children?"

"I haven't ruled it out, but I hadn't really considered it until you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You've made me think about things I never thought would be real for me before."

He looked down, seeming to be uncomfortable with what he was thinking. "I don't mean it as an ultimatum. Please believe that. But I was a single parent for most of Alexis' life…for all practical purposes, for her whole life; and I don't want to be a single dad again. If we have children, I want it to be a two parent home…both parents under the same roof…for our child as well as for me."

"I can understand that…and not see it as an ultimatum. I know you wouldn't use a tactic like that."

"Is there anything else you want to talk about?"

"Not now." She stood to put her arms around him again. Looking at him directly, she said, "You really believe we can do this, don't you?"

"I do."

"I believe it, too."

He stood and pulled her into a close, full-body embrace, and their soft, sweet kiss rapidly escalated into much more. In the midst of the escalation, of course, was when Martha came home. Hearing the door close, they broke the kiss, leaving their foreheads together and trying not to be obvious about the panting breaths they were trying to hide.

"Richard, Katherine!" Martha sang out enthusiastically and totally unapologetically. "I assume this means you've made up."

"How could you and your remarkable timing tell, Mother?" Castle asked sarcastically.

"Now, Richard, you know I'm happy for both of you. Welcome back, Katherine. Did the two of you work things out? Did you get the job?" she asked.

"Yes to both," Kate answered, "but I have until tomorrow at four to decide if I take it."

Martha left her purse in a chair and flitted into the kitchen to get a glass of wine. "Should I pour some for you…to celebrate?"

"Or to cope," Castle muttered in Kate's ear.

Before responding about the wine, Kate poked his ribs in warning as Martha filled her glass. "That sounds like a good idea, Martha."

After filling glasses for Castle and Beckett, Martha asked, "So where do the two of you stand now?"

"In a much better place, Mother."

"And what does that mean?"

"It means we both looked deep down, and neither of us believes this will never work. We're on the same page now. We behaved like adults and talked it through. I proposed, but I'm going to do that again later when the timing is better. Don't ask when. We'll let you know when it happens. Until then, I intend to refer to this woman as my partner because girlfriend is too frivolous a term, and partners are of equal importance - there's give and take."

"Castle…I…" Not finding the right words to answer that statement, Kate simply kissed him firmly, whether his mother was watching or not."

"I must say, this reunion seems to have gone much better than I'd expected," Martha observed. "When I left earlier, I would have been happy just to see that you were speaking to each other again."

"We know where we've gone wrong, and we can figure out the why's as we go. We have a general plan for Agent Beckett working in D.C., and another for Detective Beckett staying in New York, both of which include providing you with your third and final daughter-in-law in the not too distant future."

"Thank God," Martha drawled. "And Katherine, of those in the daughter-in-law pool, rest assured you're the only one _I_ ever wanted." Looking at her son, she asked, "When does she get a ring?"

"When it's a more appropriate time than now," he told Martha, taking the ring from his pocket to show her. "I got her to try it on, though. It looks good."

"Oh, my," Martha answered. "Excellent taste, Richard. Are you happy with his choice, dear?"

"I love it. And I love your son, Martha. Thank you for whatever you said to help us get through this mess. My Dad talked to me, too."

"Parents can only plant the seeds, darling. The two of you have to make them grow."

"We spent the afternoon trying to do that. We've decided we have to take each other as we are...warts and all," Castle answered. He pulled Kate close to his side and told his mother, "We're going to clean up and go out for a nice dinner. Then we'll come home, get some sleep, and tomorrow Kate will decide about the job. By four tomorrow, we'll know where we go from there."

"And whatever happens, we'll make it work," Kate added, looking at Castle with a certainty she used to believe she'd never feel.

"I think you will,"Martha responded and lifted her glass regally to the two of them; then she turned, took her phone from her purse, and smiled as she dialed Jim Beckett on her way up the stairs.


End file.
